Acts 25

Acts 25New International Version (NIV)

Paul’s Trial Before Festus

25 Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem,2 where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul.3 They requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.4 Festus answered, “Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon.5 Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.”

6 After spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him.7 When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many serious charges against him, but they could not prove them.

8 Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.”

9 Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”

10 Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well.11 If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

12 After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”

Festus Consults King Agrippa

13 A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus.14 Since they were spending many days there, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. He said: “There is a man here whom Felix left as a prisoner.15 When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him and asked that he be condemned.

16 “I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over anyone before they have faced their accusers and have had an opportunity to defend themselves against the charges.17 When they came here with me, I did not delay the case, but convened the court the next day and ordered the man to be brought in.18 When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected.19 Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive.20 I was at a loss how to investigate such matters; so I asked if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these charges.21 But when Paul made his appeal to be held over for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar.”

22 Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear this man myself.”

He replied, “Tomorrow you will hear him.”

Paul Before Agrippa

23 The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high-ranking military officers and the prominent men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.24 Festus said: “King Agrippa, and all who are present with us, you see this man! The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.25 I found he had done nothing deserving of death, but because he made his appeal to the Emperor I decided to send him to Rome.26 But I have nothing definite to write to His Majesty about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that as a result of this investigation I may have something to write.27 For I think it is unreasonable to send a prisoner on to Rome without specifying the charges against him.”

Job 24-26

Job 24-26New International Version (NIV)

24 “Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment?Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?2 There are those who move boundary stones;they pasture flocks they have stolen.3 They drive away the orphan’s donkeyand take the widow’s ox in pledge.4 They thrust the needy from the pathand force all the poor of the land into hiding.5 Like wild donkeys in the desert,the poor go about their labor of foraging food;the wasteland provides food for their children.6 They gather fodder in the fieldsand glean in the vineyards of the wicked.7 Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.8 They are drenched by mountain rainsand hug the rocks for lack of shelter.9 The fatherless child is snatched from the breast;the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked;they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.11 They crush olives among the terraces[a];they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst.12 The groans of the dying rise from the city,and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.But God charges no one with wrongdoing.

13 “There are those who rebel against the light,who do not know its waysor stay in its paths.14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up,kills the poor and needy,and in the night steals forth like a thief.15 The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk;he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’and he keeps his face concealed.16 In the dark, thieves break into houses,but by day they shut themselves in;they want nothing to do with the light.17 For all of them, midnight is their morning;they make friends with the terrors of darkness.

18 “Yet they are foam on the surface of the water;their portion of the land is cursed,so that no one goes to the vineyards.19 As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,so the grave snatches away those who have sinned.20 The womb forgets them,the worm feasts on them;the wicked are no longer rememberedbut are broken like a tree.21 They prey on the barren and childless woman,and to the widow they show no kindness.22 But God drags away the mighty by his power;though they become established, they have no assurance of life.23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security,but his eyes are on their ways.24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;they are brought low and gathered up like all others;they are cut off like heads of grain.

25 “If this is not so, who can prove me falseand reduce my words to nothing?”

Bildad

25 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

2 “Dominion and awe belong to God;he establishes order in the heights of heaven.3 Can his forces be numbered?On whom does his light not rise?4 How then can a mortal be righteous before God?How can one born of woman be pure?5 If even the moon is not brightand the stars are not pure in his eyes,6 how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot—a human being, who is only a worm!”

Job

26 Then Job replied:

2 “How you have helped the powerless!How you have saved the arm that is feeble!3 What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!And what great insight you have displayed!4 Who has helped you utter these words?And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?

5 “The dead are in deep anguish,those beneath the waters and all that live in them.6 The realm of the dead is naked before God;Destruction[b] lies uncovered.7 He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;he suspends the earth over nothing.8 He wraps up the waters in his clouds,yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.9 He covers the face of the full moon,spreading his clouds over it.10 He marks out the horizon on the face of the watersfor a boundary between light and darkness.11 The pillars of the heavens quake,aghast at his rebuke.12 By his power he churned up the sea;by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.13 By his breath the skies became fair;his hand pierced the gliding serpent.14 And these are but the outer fringe of his works;how faint the whisper we hear of him!Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”

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